Hen&#39;s nest.



SCHUYLER C. STEVENS, OF. SMITH CENTER, KANSAS.

HENS NEST.

No., 857,213. A

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 18, 1907.

Application filed March 22,1907. Serial No. 363,856.

To n/ZZ whom t mm1/y concern.-

Be it known that l, SoHUYL-Et C. STEVENS, a citizen of the Uni'ted States, residing at Smith Center, in the county of Smith and State of Kansas, have invented a new and useful Hens Nest, of which the following is a specification.

My present invention relates to improvements in nests for fowls, and it has for its object to provide an improved construction and arrangement of the nests whereby they may be constructed in sections, each section containing a row of nests and the sections being interchangeable and adapted to be assembled according to the size or shape of the henliouse and the number of nests desired, the sectional construction of the nests enabling them to be arranged indoors in superposed arrangement during early setting, and they may be separately placed on the ground outdoors after hatching, the closures or shutters employed in connection with the nests enabling the laying hens to be readily separated from those that are setting.

To these and other ends, the invention comprises the various novel features of construction and arrangement and combination of parts, which will be described more articularly hereinafter, and set forth particularly in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing Eigure l is a perspective view of a sectional nest constructed in accordance with the present invention, the nest sections being shown separated. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the coperating end portions of the nest sections. E ig. 3 re resents a horizontal section through one of t ie rows of nests in one corner of a hen-house into which the nests are fitted.

Corresponding parts in the several figures are indicated throughout by similar characters of reference.

In the present embodiment of the invention, a pair of upper and lower nest sections A and B are shown, these sections being adapted to interchangeably t the base section C, it being understood that any suitable number of nest sections may be employed in superposed arrangement, the sections being su stantially duplicates in order that they may be built up according to the available Ispace or the number of nests desired.

Each of the nest sections embody in the resent instance end pieces l and 2 connected liy the top board 3, and between these parts are arranged at suitable intervals a set of partitions 5 which divide the sections longitudinally into a row of separate nests. EX- tending horizontally across the vertical edges of the-end boards and partitions are a pair of strips 6, the upper edge of the strips resting some distance below'the upper surface of the top board to provide a space for the interlocking strips of the nest sections, these interlocking strips 8 being secured at the lower sides of each nest section and having their lower edges projecting downwardly beyond the lower edges of the end boards and partitions. The top boards of all the sections, eX- cept the uppermost of the set, are provided with a pair of cleats 9 and l0, these cleats being located adjacent the ends of the respective top boards and adapted to engage at the inner sides of the end boards of the section resting thereon.

The base or bottom section is composed of a top board ll'provided with a pair of supporting feet l2 adapted to rest upon the ground or any other suitable means of support, the board 11 being of a width sufficient to fit between the downwardly projecting portions of the lower strips 8 of the lowermost sections, and it is provided with cleats similar to those employed on the nest sections.

The upper and lower horizontal strips 6 and 8' serve as fastening means for the closures or shutters, the latter embodying, in they present. instance, a board 14 preferably provided with a ventilation aperture 15 and having a pair of vertically extending cross pieces 16 guided between the adjacent partitions projecting beyond the upper and lower edges of the board, the latter being of a height sufficient to permit a relative verticalv movement thereof between the upper and lower strips, the lower ends of the cross pieces projecting a shorter distance beyond the board than the upper ends do in order' that they may be disengaged from the lower bars when the closures are lifted, and this permits the closures or shutters 1 to be readily removed and fitted into either side of the nest sections, the weight of the closures serving to prevent accidental displacement, inward movement of the closures being limited .by engagement of the cover boards with the vertical edges of the adjacent portions.

fgln assembling the sections within a lienrio IOO house, the base is so placed on the floor that there will be a space on each side thereof, and on the base are assembled the nest sections, the projecting edges of the lowest strips 8 of the latter engaging the longitudinal edges of the board 1l, the latter serving as a bottom for the several nests of the sections and the end boards of the sections fit at the outer sides of the cleats 9 and l0, the latter serving to prevent longitudinal disengagement of the sections while the downwardly projecting portions of the stripsS cooperate with the longitudinal edges of the board l1 to prevent relative lateral movement o r disengagement of the sections. The next section is placed on the lower nest section in a manner similar to that described in the assembling of the base and the lower nest section, the top board of the lower nest section serving as a bottom for the nests in the upper section, the downwardly projecting portion of the lower strips thereon resting immediateljT above the upper strips 6 on the lower section, the longitudinal edges of the top board cooperating with the lower strips 8 of the upper section to prevent relative lateral disengagement of the sections.

After the sections have been assembled within the hen-house, a suitable partition is erected so as to divide the hen-house into two compartments, the nests being arranged in line with and forming a part of the partition, one side of the nests openin -into one compartment while the other si e' thereof opens into the other compartment. these compartments is accessible to the laying hens only while the other compartment is to be occupied exclusively by the setting hens, and the closures or shutters are reversible in order that any desired nest of the series may be placed in communication with either compartment as may be desired.

The superposed arrangement of the nests not only requires very little of the space of the house, but it enables the nest sections to be taken down separately during the hatching season and placed on the ground, and it also provides a construction wherein cleansing may be accomplished very easily, so that the nest may be kept in a sanitary condition, and the shutters or closures may be readily reversed to connect a nest either with the laying or setting compartment, so that the fowls occupying one set of nests cannot interfere with those of the other set. Moreover, the construction is such that the parts are not liable to get out of order, and the nests may be manufactured to sell at a low price, the sectional construction enabling them to be supplied in any desired capacity and to accommodate the nests to the space available in each particular case.

What is claimed is y 1. A device of the character described composed of coperatively arranged detachable sections adapted to engage one above One of.

lower portion adapted to interlock with the top ofthe other section to prevent relative lateral disengagement thereof.

2. Adevice of the character described,

composed of superposed detachable sections,`

each section embodying end pieces, a top board connecting them, and horizontally extending strips arranged at the sides thereof, the strips of one section engaging the longitudinal edges of the top board on the adjacent section for preventing relative lateral displacement of the sections.

3. A device of the character described composed of superposed detachable sections, each section embodying end pieces, a top board connecting them, partitions arranged transversely of the section and dividing it into a row of nests, strips extending longitudinally of the section and connecting the end pieces and partitions, the lower longitudinal edges of the strips projecting below the lower edges of the end pieces and partitions and adapted to coperate with the longitudinal edges of the top board of the adjacent section to prevent relative lateral displacement of the sections, and cleats on the upper surface of the top board of one section adapted to engage at the inner sides of the end boards to prevent relative longitudinal displacement of the sections.

4. A device of the character described embodying end pieces, a top board connectling them, partitions arranged transversely of the top board and forming a row of nests, upper and lower parallel strips arranged at each side of the nest, and closures for the nests each embodying a cover board having cross pieces thereon adapted to engage behind the said strips to prevent outward movement of the closures, the ends of the boards ofthe latter coperating with the vertical edges of the adjacent partitions to prevent inward movement of the closures.

5. A device of the character described embodying superposed detachable sections, each of the latter embodying end pieces, a

- top board secured thereto, partitions arranged transversely of the section and dividing it into a row of nests, upper and lower horizontal strips arranged on the vertical edges of the partitions and end pieces, the lower pair of strips being arranged to coperate with the longitudinal edges of the top board of the next lower section to prevent lateral displacement of the sections, and closures for the nests each embodying a cover board adapted lto engage the vertical edges of two adjacent partitions and a pair of cross pieces arranged on the rear thereof and adapted to engage the rear sides of the upper and lower strips at either side of the section, the lower ends of the cross pieces projecting a shorter IOO IOS

dstztnoe beyond the'lower edge of the @over my own, have hereto afEXed my signature board than the upper ends project above the n thelpresenoe of tWo Witnesses.

upper edOfe of the eover board the Weo'ht of 1 the cove? serving to prevent dsengaglnent DCHUYLER C' STEVENS' 5 of the lower ends of the cross pieces and the /Vtnesses:

lower strip. VERNON BARGER,

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as JOSEPH HAMMOND. 

